Everyone Knows
by ChibiChaos Mage of Chaos
Summary: Everyone knows that Artha and Moordryd are a couple, except for the two prime suspects themselves. A collection of short stories involving Moordryd and Artha...and their relationship as it evolves. SLASH!
1. Utility Closet

**Authors Notes:**

_Wow, been a while since I actually got off my...posterior and wrote something. Anyway, this is going to be a collection of very short stories on the relationship between Moordryd and Artha, because there just aren't enough out there. Some stories will be inter-linked, and some will be one shots. My very first Dragon Booster ficcy too, yay! I just hope the characers aren't too OOC... So, I hope you enjoy it  
_

**Parings:**_Slight Artha/ Moodryd_

**Characters**: _Artha, Connor, and Moordryd_

**Disclaimer:**_The author forfeits any and all ownership claims over the characters from Dragon Booster, they are only to be used for non-profit entertainment purposes._

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**Utility Closet**

"_Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending."_

Carl Bard

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The creaking sound was what alerted them first to the presence of another. The brunette tensed slightly, the blond wrapping a comforting arm around the slim waist. Both tilted their heads towards the entrance of their small prison. The two males blinked and squinted a little as the bright light flooded their senses, their eyes needing to adjust after being in the dark for so long.

Above them, the shocked face of Connor Penn gawked down at the two teens sitting in the utility closet. Well...actually, it was more like Moodryd was sitting with back against the wall with Artha half sprawled over his lap. Either way, they were there...in the closet...with each other...alone. Connor continued to stare, eyes taking in the arm wrapped around Artha's waist, the way the brunette leaned into the younger Payne, how they seemed so comfortable in each others presence. He cleared his throat and took a small step back,

"Artha...um...I er...I'll speak to you...later, inside...tonight..."

Spinning on his heel, the elder Penn sprinted off in the direction of the stables. Artha and Moodryd watched his progress until he was out of sight, then turned to exchange confused looks.

"What was that all about?"

Moodryd shrugged carelessly,

"Beats me, maybe he finally snapped. I know that anyone would end up in the mental ward after being around you."

He smirked as Artha glared and huffed at him, a surprisingly cute sight in all honesty, before deciding to move on to more pressing matters,

"Now, get off me Stable Brat, you're heavy!" '_And if you don't stop looking at me like that, I'll end up molesting you.'_

Artha blushed at the sudden intense look Moordryd gave him,

"Hey! It's not my fault! You were the one who tripped over the bucket and dragged me down with you!"

"Details, details."

Moodryd waved his hand airily, then shoved the other teen off his lap and stumbled to his feet. Several hours locked in a cramped closet tends to cause ones limbs to fall asleep after all. He stepped over his shocked looking rival and swept from the closet, glancing over his shoulder momentarily,

"Are you coming Stable Brat? Or do you prefer sitting around in small, confining spaces?"

Artha growled under his breath but dragged himself up and slowly stepped out into the hallway. The two stood, staring at each other for a minute, before Moordryd narrowed his eyes,

"The last few hours never happened, we will never speak of this again."

Artha simply nodded,

"Agreed."

"Good, now that that's settled, there's just one last thing."

"Huh?" Artha blinked and suddenly found himself face to face with the blond teen, "um, wha-?"

Whatever questions he had were quickly and efficiently cut off by Moordryd swiftly kissing him...and surprisingly he found himself returning it. Several seconds later Moordryd stepped away, smirked and spun around,

"Be seeing you Stable Brat."

Artha watched him walk off, still in a daze. Belatedly his glanced at his watch, and snapped out it in shock,

"Ah, I should have been at the stables 15 minutes ago! I'm so dead!"

So saying, the younger Penn sprinted off in the direction of the stables, pointedly ignoring the tingling sensation in his belly, or the way his lips had curled into a pleased expression.

FIN 

**Authors Notes:**

_Well that's it for the first one. I didn't really like the ending, but nothing I came up with was any better glares at ending don't much like the title either, ah well. So, what do the readers think? Good, Bad, What were you smoking? Reviews, constructive criticism, and virtual cookies are all welcomed...flames are not and will be used to roast marshmallows. Until next time!_


	2. Sugar Free

**Author Notes: **

_Greetings! I have returned! Life's been busy as of late. __ Ah well, here's the next chappy, another one shot this time. I've got several written on paper, now I just gotta get 'em typed XD. Thanks to all the viewers, I know you're out there! Special thanks to _Jane Silver_ for being my very first reviewer for this story, I'm glad you like it. Enjoy the next chapter!_

**Pairings: **_Artha/Moordryd if you squint_

**Characters: **_Artha and Moordryd_

**Disclaimer: **_When life gives you lemons, make lemonade...unfortunately, that doesn't help the author gain ownership of Dragon Booster or the characters within.._

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**Lessons in Life: Sugar Free**

" _I don't want to live in a world where I have to eat sugar-free sugar cookies."_

Takayuki Ikkaku, Arisa Hosaka and Toshihiro Kawabata, Animal Crossing: Wild World, 2005

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Artha wasn't sure how he'd been forced into this position. Well, that wasn't quite true, he actually had a pretty good idea on how he'd ended up like this, it involved a bet, a blond, a prank, and his father...he still wasn't on speaking terms with said paternal unit. In any case, the punishment for the crime had been decided upon, unjustly decided upon in his opinion, the jury was biased! However, as he had no say in it, Artha simply had to make do with scowls, threats, yells, and finally resorting to sharing his opinion with his father via the silent treatment...all of which had blown up spectacularly in his face. Conner was making it a point to yammer at him as much as possible, in the most annoying and obnoxious manner he could imagine, all the while smirking at Artha's inability to respond in the manner he'd like to due to his stubbornness. Truthfully, he was just about ready to send a punch the older man's way if he didn't Cut. It. Out!

Back to the matter at hand though. Supposedly it was meant to help them develop skills that they could use to survive later in life. While he might agree with the idea in theory, practice wise...it sucked. Sighing heavily, he blinked as his hands were suddenly grasped in a firm grip, frowning, he raised his eyes to the owner of the hands holding his,

"Do you mind? I'm working here!"

Moordryd merely scowled and yanked his hands further away from their work,

"No, you're killing it. In fact," he glanced down, "I think we can safely say it's long past the dead stage and moving quickly to the returning-from-whence-it-came stage. Did you even look at what we supposed to do?"

Artha scowled at him,

"I know what I'm doing!"

He received a _look,_

"Reeaally now?" Moordryd drawled, and shrugged uncaringly after a minute, "fine, you do it your way."

"I intend to."

"Well good then."

Moordryd made to turn; pausing at the last second and suddenly ran a finger down the left side of Artha's face. Artha blinked and forcibly ignored the flutters in his belly, or the giddy feeling that swept over him, or the way his face tingled after Moordryd touched it. The blond pulled back, sucking on the finger thoughtfully,

"Needs more sugar," he glanced down again, "and you've put too much water in."

At the incredulous look he received he huffed defensively,

"Cain does this kind of stuff all the time, but his first few goes weren't too good, so we all ended up having to learn just so we wouldn't starve. He's fine now though...so long as he doesn't decide to experiment."

The look didn't change, he scowled and stepped closer, digging a new bowl out and placing it in front of the brunette along with what he needed.

"Pay attention Stable brat, cause I'm only doing this once."

He wrapped an arm around the other's waist and snagged both hands, guiding them through the steps. They worked in awkward silence for several minutes, until Artha spoke up,

"I can make a good stew you know."

Moordryd hummed, concentrating on the steps, though his lips quirked in mild amusement at the slightly defensive tone in the other boy's voice,

"That a fact"

Several more minutes passed as Artha watched his hands move, memorising the process,

"...I suppose I could show you how to make it..."

Moordryd made an agreeable sound,

"If you want."

Artha relaxed, mildly surprised he hadn't realised how tensely he'd been standing,

"Good,"

Twenty minutes later, Artha was the proud creator of a dozen sugar cookies made from scratch. Really, he decided, as he simultaneously munched on one while demonstrating how to dice meat properly, Home Ec. wasn't too bad, in the end.

FIN

**Authors Notes:**

_...well...that ended up completely different from my notes, the characters just kinda ran away from me...Anyway, originally I was going to Artha unable to cook...period...but I figured, he does most of the chores at home right? So he must do at least SOME cooking. I doubt he does cakes or biscuit type things though, more likely practical stuff that can be cooked up quickly and kept for several days. Thus, he can't make cookies. __ Moodryd on the other hand, hangs out with Cain, so he must have picked up something. That's all for this chapter, let me know how you liked it Until next time!_


	3. Fortune Telling

**Author Notes:** _No, I'm not dead! And I bring you, another, longer drabble...where did this come from? I have no idea, the plot bunny just hit me over the head with it one day and refused to leave until I wrote it, curse those evil rabbits! _

_For the record though, Cain does strike me as the type to enjoy carnivals and the like, and you just know that Moordryd would huff and puff about it. By the way, I apologise in advance for Moordryd being such a priss in this one, but he just refused to behave any other way. I also apologise for Cain's sudden whimsicalness…in fact I just apologise for any OOCness that occurs here…please, feel free to point it out, preferably without large, blunt sticks though... _

**Pairing: **_None really...well, implied Artha/Moordryd if you squint..._

**Characters: **_Cain, Moordryd, and a couple of OC's that are in no way romantically linked to anyone or thing…_

**Disclaimer:** _The author would just like to note that, contrary to popular opinion, she does not in fact own either the story or characters of Dragon Booster; she does however own this story plot and any unknown characters…_

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**Fortune Telling**

"_Here's something to think about: How come you never see a headline like 'Psychic Wins Lottery'?__" _

Jay Leno

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The carnival had come to town. Joy of joys (and yes, that was sarcasm by the way). A small patch of land just outside the city was now awash with colourful booths and other attractions. Cain, unfortunately for some, was a great lover of the carnival however, and had practically dragged his friends and fellow team mates kicking and screaming (at times literally) from the confines of the city to enjoy the wonders of hot dogs and cotton candy combined with gut-wrenching rides and (horror of horrors) fresh air.

The majority of said team mates were currently plotting revenge, while breathlessly recuperating from their last turn on the 'Spinebender', which didn't really bend spines but did leave one feeling nauseous and faintly sheepish for nearly fainting from the sudden rush of blood to the head caused by several continuous corkscrew loop de loops. As such, they were currently sprawled around on a sunny patch of grass, occasionally groaning and muttering swear words while trying not to move too much, lest they get a recap of whatever junk-food they had for lunch.

Cain, however and perhaps for the best, was completely oblivious to the steadily rising and possibly homicidal ambitions of his friends, and was now happily roaming the many different booths while being accompanied (read, babysat) by his team leader, Moordryd. It should probably be mentioned that said team captain was in fact only doing so under extreme protest and bitterly complaining about it every step of the way…and being ignored by the subject of his ire for all intents and purposes. A flicker of colour in the midst of playing booths caught his attention suddenly, and the taller teen suddenly turned to find a new form of entertainment. A wide grin spread across his face as he started moving rapidly towards it, his leader now following him with weary curiosity.

Moordryd eyed the colourful object in front of him with disdainful suspicion. It was, in fact, what could be considered a tent…if one squinted and tilted their head to the left slightly. As it stood, as far as Moordryd could tell, it was a medium sized squarish blob attempting to collapse in several different directions at once. The end result was a general slump, chopping off nearly half a ruler of head room. It was purple; a horrendous beetroot purple if you want to get specific, with stars and crescent moons painted on in such bright neon yellow they practically glowed, covering it. The front entrance was hidden from the world behind a near sheer wall of streamers and ropes of beads and feathers. A set of wind chimes created a racquet with every puff of wind from a small overhanging from the entrance.

All in all, it was loud, crude, and so overcompensating in its attempt to appear mystical that the only way to describe it was _pathetically fake_! If it were any other time or place, Moordryd wouldn't have been caught dead anywhere near its vicinity. Unfortunately for our…hero, his comrade Cain had quickly noticed the shack and was now staring at it with all the joy of a love struck puppy, and quite frankly the blond couldn't bring himself to kick said puppy, it might bite him. So either way, he was apparently doomed to enter the wretched place.

At the mere thought Moordryd groaned mentally, and then groaned again out loud just to get his point across and indicate his displeasure. Honestly, you'd think at this stage he'd have better control over his minions/ friends, alas, apparently even his status of leader couldn't come between Cain and his love for the supernatural…pity that. If the look on Cain's face meant anything, then Moordryd could look forward to being stuck sitting in front of some horrible looking hag, no doubt toothless and possibly balding, cackling and reading out some made up gibberish. Oh goody.

The taller teen suddenly grabbed his arm without warning, and tugged him none too gently towards the eye sore with childish glee. Moordryd sighed, and valiantly tried not to touch _anything_ near him, he didn't want to get contaminated by who knows what.

The inside of the tent was, if possible, even worse then the outside. Beads, semi-precious stones (half of which were no doubt plastic, Moordryd thought, rather cynically) and a number of ornate carvings and items sheepishly attempting to be occult symbols littered the area. Moordryd grunted as he nearly tripped over several unlit candles and a wooden bowl with rather lewd images printed onto it. Wonderful, not only was this place filthy, cluttered, spooky, and just plain icky, now the proprietor was apparently some kind of pervert. He glowered at his friend's back and mentally cursed him for dragging him in here. Smoky incense clogged up his nose and made his eyes itch and water in the gloomy air. Actually, when he actually thought about it, the whole area was pretty foggy, he could barely see the covered table at the back with the crystal ball balanced o it. Cain was currently happily taking a seat at him.

It didn't take long for his earlier prediction to come true. A stooped, elderly woman with a beaked nose and fly away grey hair, nearly smothered in a purple robe to match the exterior of the tent slowly creaked her way into the room. She glanced momentarily at Moordryd, before apparently dismissing him (something which bother relieved and annoyed him) instead painstakingly seating herself before Cain and grinning at him with a surprisingly full mouth of pearly white teeth. Although, her hands were rather knar led, the blond thought rudely. Deciding that he didn't need to be here any longer, the teen turned on his heel and took several steps towards what he hoped was the exit. The smoke curtained everything in the room.

Moordryd yelped, something he would later deny with a vengeance if asked, when something brushed against his hand. Against his better judgment, the blond male glanced down…and stared into large brown, doe like eyes set in a small doll like face that peered back at him solemnly. Blinking, he pulled back slightly, and found himself staring at a female child, probably only around eight or so, maybe ten at the most, since she was even smaller then Lance…err…that Stableboy's pipsqueak brother…um…the brat! And he did NOT think that in a fond way!

"What?"

He glowered at the small child. She simply beamed blindingly bright smile at him, displaying two rows of perfectly pearl white teeth. In all honesty, Moordryd was a little creeped out, what was with these people and their unnaturally white teeth?

A quick glance around the room made him frown, he could no longer see either Cain or the older woman…maybe she'd taken him out back or something, and was it just him, or was the room even foggier? An insistent tug at his sleeve made him glance down again, this time with a snarl as he remembered the girl.

"What is it? I'm not giving you any money!"

The girl merely giggled at his harsh words, before taking his hand in a surprisingly strong grip and half dragged him through the fog. Moordryd muggily wondered how such a small tend could have so much space, then decided he didn't want to know since it made his head hurt. Eventually she stopped and calmly pushed him into a rather low chair, it took the blond a minute to realise that he was now, essentially, in the midst of what appeared to be a tea party…

"What the hell!?"

He attempted to leap up in indignation, however found himself securely stuck to the chair. The child daintily took the seat opposite him, brushing off her skirt as she did so. Rather belatedly he noticed that several other chairs were also occupied by a number of glassy eyed, life sized dolls…this was officially the creepiest day of his life and Cain was so going to be sorry when he found that jerk. The girl held out the fairly ornate tea pot and indicated to him with a sweet smile. Moordryd glared furiously at her, which didn't seem to accomplish anything, so he settled for crossing his arms and brooding (NOT sulking) darkly. The two sat in silence for a minute as she poured tea into a china cup in front of her then moved it to in front of him before pouring herself another one. Around them, the mob of dolls at the table sat and watched everything with suffocating scrutiny. Eventually satisfied with her work, the girl finally stopped and focused on her unwilling guest.

"Hello"

Moordryd gave her a sour look,

"Hello, are we done now?"

She giggled in a rather high pitched manner,

"No silly, of course not, we just got started."

"Of course, how stupid of me," was the deadpanned response, "and what exactly are we doing?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

He blinked, and stared at the tea cup in front of him and the unblinking china faced dolls that surrounded them with some horror,

"Um…"

She considered him thoughtfully, an oddly knowing expression on her face,

"You should probably catch him while you can,"

"…what?"

"Afterall, you never know when someone else might try to tame him."

"Him?"

"That golden dragon"

Ah, now they were a subject he understood, just one problem,

"I think you're mistaken, it's not a golden dragons, it's a black and gold dragon."

She gave him a look that said a lot about her thoughts on his opinion, none of it positive,

"No, I'm talking about the golden dragon, and you'd better get to him fast unless you want that blue serpent to have him instead. I'm pretty sure that baby dragon already talked to you about him."

Moordryd scowled, now feeling more then a little frustrated and having no idea what she meant…and he was ignoring a really odd thought at the back of his mind trying to bring attention to itself.

"And how, exactly, do you propose I…catch…this golden dragon?"

He sighed, not believing that he was actually going along with this stupid word play thing. The girl actually had the audacity to sniff impatiently,

"I don't know, that's your job to figure out, not mine."

He huffed, "Well that doesn't help me very much."

"On the contrary, you should be able to figure it out pretty quickly; you already know all the weaknesses. Be spontaneous!"

He stared at her blankly, "Right, is that everything?"

She pursed her lips, and muttered something to the doll closest to her, pausing for where there would have been an answer from anyone else. It was highly unnerving. Her one sided conversation came to an end quickly, and she nodded her head,

"Yes, that's everything you need to know, we just wanted to wish you good luck."

The blond snorted rather rudely and pulled himself to his feet, succeeding this time. Without turning back, he quickly strode away from the room into the incense haze, stumbling forward until suddenly his world was filled with light.

"Moordryd! There you are!" A large hand clasped his shoulder, "I didn't know where you'd gone."

Cain grinned widely at him, whatever future he'd heard had obviously been good. Moordryd scowled again, remembering his own experience,

"What are you talking about, I was with that girl."

"Girl?"

"Yes, the one with all the dolls,"

Cain shook his head, "Sorry Moordryd, but I didn't see any girl with dolls."

The blond huffed and shook his hand off his shoulder, "Whatever, let's go collect the rest, I'm sick of this place." So said, he stomped off in the direction the others last were, trying to ignore the creepy sensation of being watched. Honestly, a golden dragon he needed to tame? What the hell? He must have had some screwy dream while waiting for Cain, stupid incense, screwing with his mind.

Still…there was that thought from earlier…he shook his head, no, that was just stupid, even more so then talking dolls that didn't say anything...

**FIN**

**Author Note: **_See Moordryd? Even the random people at the carnival know that you're meant to be with Artha…I should probably also add that these drabbles are out of order...i just wright 'em as they come to me. __Err…yeah, it came out longer then I thought, the words just kept coming and coming and coming well, I hope it's not too bad and makes up for the lack of updates. So, leave a message and let me know. Good? Bad? What the hell were you taking? I like to hear it all…except random flames, I have no use for those and they hurt my delicate ego ;P…until next time! _


	4. Rival

**Author Notes: **_This whole thing came around because I though it would be funny if the Shadow Booster and the Dragon Booster had past relations. It sort of evolved from there I'm afraid. In all honesty, I'm not sure if the Shadow Booster was around during that time, I can't remember, or if it's a new, mutated version of the DB…well, now he was. Anyway, I'm sorry again if there's any OOCness in the characters used, I think Parmon might be a little too over dramatic and Lance is a little too sneaky. Still, I can see him sending Moordryd a letter like this so um…yeah. Oh, and Moordryd knows about the DB's identity at this point, but Artha doesn't know about the SB. So, it's all just a bit screwy...but what the hey, enjoy!_

_Special thanks go to _Shade Mimir _:D_

**Pairing: **_Implied Moordryd/Artha if you squint, and mentions of past Shadow/Dragon…_

**Characters: **_Parmon and Lance_

**Disclaimer: **_Quite unfortunately, the author can not, in any way, claim ownership over the characters or storyline of Dragon Booster…if she did there'd be a whole lot more smut between Moordryd and Artha for starters._

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**Rival**

"_Knowledge is power, if you know it about the right person." _

Ethel Mumford

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It had all started with an assignment and trip to the library. Well, actually, it didn't originally start out as an assignment until Parmon decided that he wanted to know more about the history (well, more like legend) of the previous Dragon Booster in hopes of gaining more information on Artha's new abilities. So the blame for the entire situation could be squarely placed on the young inventor's shoulders.

Fortunately, the entire 'team' of researchers consisted of Parmon himself and Lance, who'd been forced to come along since it was the older's turn to watch the troublesome tyke while Artha leaped around the city and screwed with Word's plans. Kit had flat out refused to have anything to do with it and was off training somewhere for the next big race, although Parmon wouldn't put it past her to actually be following Artha around instead.

Either way, he was now stuck in the library babysitting the youngest member of their group. Though, in all honesty, it was debatable on just who was watching who in this situation. Parmon had the tendency to revert back to his childhood self when he got all excited, and books coupled with research definitely seemed to fit the bill here. As such, the red head has spent at least two hours bouncing around the library like a five year old on a sugar high (something that had mildly traumatised Lance), searching for the 'perfect' research materials. Lance shook his head and drummed his fingers against the wooden table he was sitting at as Parmon read out loud from the latest book he'd somehow magically managed to dredge up from the depths of the bookshelves.

_It is a little known fact that although from different realms of power, the Dragon Booster and Shadow booster were in fact prone to working quite closely together and it has been speculated that the likelihood of the pair being lovers is considered quite high, judging from some of the records found over the years... _

There was a brief period of shocked silence (and mildly horrified in Parmon's case, Artha would kill him if he corrupted Lance's so called innocent mind in any way…though sometimes he was sure the kid knew more then he let on).

The two members of the research team stared incredulously at the information that Parmon had somehow managed to dig up. Eventually Lance coughed and warily glanced up at the frozen teen,

"Well, I'm not telling Moordryd about this,"

This immediately sent the elder of the pair into an explosive tizzy,

"What's that supposed to mean? Why would Moordryd need to know? Why would he even want to know?" He suddenly gasped, "oh no! He figured out that Artha is the Dragon Booster, didn't he?!" and then continued to hyperventilate for several minutes.

Lance rolled his eyes at the display and wondered if he should start carrying around paper bags for the older teen on a regular basis, especially if things between the blond and his elder brother turned out the way he was beginning to suspect they would.

"Whatever, guess I'll have to tell him."

Which of course only caused Parmon to fall into yet another spazz attack, Lance vaguely wondered where he got all the energy from, it had to be tiring throwing your arms around like that constantly. Heck, he was getting tired just watching.

"What!? No! Nononononono! You can't!"

The younger of the two stared at the elder until he managed to calm down slightly.

"Parmon, it's only fair that Moordryd know since Artha _is_ dating him. He should know about any rivals he might have to deal with."

Silence filled the room again, this time it was Parmon who was staring at him oddly, and once again fearing his imminent death at the hands of an overprotective big brother.

"Lance, where the hel-heck did you get the completely insane idea that Artha and Moordryd are dating!? In case you haven't noticed, they're not really on good terms, what with the fact that they constantly fight whenever they come into contact with each other! Their rivalry is known throughout the city! Well, the dragon racing part anyway…"

Lance flicked a strand of hair out of his face with a bored expression, deciding with all the worldly insight of a pre-teen that, for a smart person Parmon really wasn't all that bright at times.

"Of course they're dating, why else would they be looking for each other all the time?"

Parmon wondered how to explain the complicated mechanics of Moordryd and Artha's relationship (that did _not_ involve dating) to the younger red head without hurting his feelings and have Artha after his head. The boy was pretty fond of the blond after all, and Artha was his older brother and current only constant in his life, it was only natural that he'd want the two together. Sighing, Parmon opened his mouth to dash the younger male's hopes,

"Besides, I saw Moordryd kissing Artha the other day, so obviously they're together.'

And snapped it shut again as those words brought the older teen's brain to a screeching halt,

"Huh?"

Was the intelligent response from the resident genius. He frantically tried to put together this new piece of evidence with what he knew about the relationship (and he shuddered to use that word) between his best friend and the younger Paynn, _does not compute, does not compute, does not-_

"What?"

"You know, that other day, at the stables, when Artha jumped at Moordryd and started kissing him."

Eyes glazed over slightly as Parmon attempted to digest this without his brain shutting down on him. It wasn't working. Fortunately, a sudden thought occurred to him,

"Would that be when Artha tripped and accidently collapsed on top of Moordryd? Honestly Lance, that's all it was, an accident."

Lance huffed and rolled his eyes again, but refrained from answering. If Parmon wanted to be stupid, that was his problem. Parmon firmly closed the book that had started the whole topic and made a mental note to make sure to put it somewhere no one would find it.

"Well, now that that's cleared up, there are still a few more books I want to check."

Lance groaned and thumped his head on the table, staring at it in frustration at the idea of _more _research. He eyed the paper and pens scattered around the table, an idea starting to form in his mind.

* * *

Moordryd scowled at the sound of Cain's sudden screeching, still towel drying his hair after his shower. Fortunately he'd put on a pair of pants by this stage, and so was able to saunter through the building to his right hand man currently screaming his name. He stared and arched an eyebrow, waiting for Cain to stop spluttering and hand over the piece of paper he was currently waving around like some deranged twit.

Eventually the other male calmed down long enough for the blond to snatch what turned out to be an envelope from his hand and send him away so he could finish getting dressed. Irritated, he tore it open and flipped open the piece of paper it contained. Apparently it was message from the mini-stable brat…what, he couldn't use e-mail like normal people? Oh well, might as well see what he had to say. Cool grey eyes flickered slightly has he studied the piece of paper, a small smile curling over his lips, now this was interesting. The next question was how to best utilise this new information…oh the teasing and tormenting, and he got to play jealous lover, it all worked out so well. In fact, if he did this right, he might be able to cause Artha to have a permanent blush for at least a month! He gave a little snigger and cheerfully tore up the paper, no point in leaving it around for his father to find, scattering the scraps into the outside world from his window.

Artha had no idea what he was in for.

**FIN**

**Author's notes: **_I adore Lance I've decided, he's also the one who gets all the sneaky plans in my drabble series. I'm not sure how that happened…still, he's pretty cute, and slightly devious, like that. Uh, I also can't decide if they have e-mail or not in the DB world, but since they've got all that other technology, I suppose they must. Let me know what you thought, good, bad, what the heck were you thinking? I like to know what my readers think. Oh, and please feel free to expand on any of these drabbles if they happen to inspire you, just let me know. _


	5. Best Friend

**Author Notes: **_A'hem...hello! Long time, no...er, read. Anyway, I've grabbed myself a bit of free time (finally!) since I'm pretty up to date in most things regarding assignments and can now relax without the fear of having to write up yet another essay for at least two weeks! For this chapter, I decided to switch to a different main character again, this time it's Cain. Yay! Also, I just finished the entire Count Cain/Godchild series (whose main character is also named Cain XD) and nearly cried at the end. This drabble gave me a lot of trouble actually, getting into Cain's mind is hard! In any case, here's the next drabble! _

**Pairing: **Moordryd/Artha hinted at, past one-sided Cain/Moordryd hinted at

**Characters: **Cain mainly, Moordryd and Artha off camera

**Disclaimer: **All of my money goes towards paying my uni fees, that is…I don't own anything!

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**Always the Best Friend**

"_Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: What! You too? I thought I was the only one." _

**C. S. Lewis **

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'_He's..._flirting_!?' _

Cain couldn't help the incredulous thought, even as disbelief flooded his system. However, the facts were there, staring him in the face and Cain had never been one to ignore the facts...usually. In this case, the facts showed quite clearly that,

Moordryd Payne was _flirting_! As in showing actual _romantic_ _affection_ towards another human being!

Despite this dramatic statement, there were no flashes of lightning, or angry grumbles of thunder to show just how dramatic it was, not even so much as a pause in time...how anticlimactic, it was highly disappointing.

Cain doubted that anyone else could have noticed though, hell, even the person that Moordryd was flirting with probably didn't even realise that they were the blonde's object of affection…or in fact that there were any feelings of affection at all. Well, no one ever said that said blond was _good _at flirting. It was more like watching a five year old yank on the pigtails of the little girl he liked then anything else, a spoilt and moody five year old. A lot of people thought that Cain was pretty oblivious to everything (except dragon racing and cooking), and this was partially true (it was always good to be underestimated), but Cain had always been perceptive, and he was good at reading his team leader and best friend. He'd had years to learn the 'special' language of Moordryd Payne afterall, ever since he'd challenged the blond (whom he'd assumed was some random cocky rich kid trying to be cool by visiting the slums) to a dragon race and ended up eating dust (badly), to his surprise. He was practically a walking dictionary on the subject of Moordryd by now. So it was only natural that he picked up on the sudden increase in the violence, snarkyness, and overall loudness of the blonde's behaviour as being his version of roses and walks in the park and possibly even sneaking several kisses out of the bargain. It was the actual _person_ that Moordryd had decided on that was a little shocking…more than a little, it was incredibly shocking.

It had taken him a good five minutes of rapid blinking in order to believe his own eyes, during which one of his other friends had worriedly asked if he was feeling all right. Said friend had subsequently been ignored and was now angrily huffing in a random corner, snapping at any students who happened to be unlucky enough to pass by. He also ignored this, more focused on Moordryd's attempt at having a love life.

If he thought about it objectively, there really wasn't any one else that Moordryd would take as a lover, female or male. Moordryd was a Payne after all, and Paynes always had to have the best, and there was no doubt that Artha Penn was a fine looking specimen of the human race, or, at the least the male portion (not that Cain was looking! Moordryd would murder him in his sleep if he so much as peeped, he had no doubts about that.). The fact that the brunette was talented and could actually hold an intelligent conversation (in particular on dragons and dragon racing) didn't hurt either. It was a happy bonus that he was easy enough for Moordryd to manipulate without being completely guileless, so the blond had to put some actual effort into it, otherwise Moordyrd would have been bored by him ages ago.

The longer he watched, the more he found he actually found the pairing plausible, and the more amused Cain found himself at Moordryd. He was positively preening and posturing, practically revelling in the complete and utterly undivided attention that Artha was awarding him with. Because it was a reward, for the blond at least, Artha had a look of long suffering on his face as he attempted to calmly move Moordryd from his path. It wasn't working and Cain could see the eruption that would quickly degenerate into an argument and possibly a fight would happen soon.

Still, the Moordryd had to given his due, capturing Artha Penn's complete attention (since most of the time he was running around doing...something, Cain had never figured out what) was a feat that had, before now, remained unaccomplished by any other. This included the rather frustrated looking blue-haired girl who standing next to the brunette and currently glaring daggers at Moordryd (who ignored them completely), Kitt was her name if he remembered correctly. Although, in all honesty, Moordryd did have the added bonus of being able to attract the brunettes attention in the middle of a crowded bar just by breathing. So really, was it that big of a surprise afterall?

Hmm, maybe not quite so much...he was starting to wrap his head around the concept of Moordryd having a crush on Artha now. Because, really, who else was worth his time? Yes, Cain might have once wanted to be the person that Moordryd devoted all of his attention and time to, but...he'd always been the best friend for Moordryd. He'd been the rock to anchor the other teen down when he got over emotional and couldn't think properly, he'd been the one to stop some of the blond's crazier schemes and the one that he vented all of his frustrations and woes about his father to. He's played the role of friend, brother, and confidant, and he'd been damned good at it. To become Moordryd's 'one' on top of it all with all of their history, because Cain knew there were some things that you didn't confess to a lover, and some things that you only confessed to them, it wasn't something he could do. Artha, though, gave Moordryd freedom, gave him a goal, something to aim for and achieve, and someone to beat. Artha pushed him forward, just as Cain made sure he didn't jump too far.

The dull sound of a body hitting metal knocked him out of his thoughts, apparently Artha had gotten fed up with Moordryd and shoved him back against the lockers in order to get past. Taking this as a cue, Moordryd had almost immediately leaped back to knock the other male down to the floor. It was a surprisingly familiar sight to the students in the hallway, no body bothered to stop them now, they'd just start up again five minutes later. Cain sighed and wandered over, easily grasping Moordryd's wrist and pulling him up and off the brunette. Ignoring the shouts and curses his friend was casting at him and the surprised look from the brunette still on the gorund he tugged the struggling blond down the hall to their next class. Moordyrd's father would be furious if he got yet another detention for fighting in the halls. Besides, he needed to have a chat with the blond about his flirting techniques anyway; he'd never achieve anything the way he was going...Moordryd obviously needed some advice from his best friend.

FIN

**Author Notes: **_Hmm, well, there it is, I hope I didn't totally just destroy Cain for anyone –looks around worriedly-I tried to keep them in all in character, ahh, and I hope the ending isn't too cheesy...I just wanted to give Cain a little introspective drabble where he realises Moordryd's feelings...and this happened. So let me know what you think please!_


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